Business, Economics, and Taxes: Capitalism. Yay? >=(

[Kepler]

I don't think the average human body, even with the luck of good genes, is really evolved by nature to survive much past 100.

Which is why we need to create genetic engines that repair cells. Very little of our tissue is actually lasting even a fraction of our lives. What happens is the copying of the copying of the copying introduces errors that build up and lead to massive failure. But if we can retain the pristine original design and pay it forward in regeneration without error, and/or introduce error correction from time to time, maybe we can cut down on a lot of that copy error. We'll still get killed off by the pieces that do last for the full time, but there are fewer of them, and maybe we can then actually design aftermarket replacements for them the way we do with organs now.

I think it will be like fusion power: always 30 years away. But the thing is, eventually -- 50, 100, 250 years from now -- fusion power will happen.

We've really only been a post-magic, thinking, rational species for about 500 years. We've come a long way in that time. I have faith in us, provided we can contain the gorillas in theme park-like reservations (or, ya know, ixne...).

 

[LynahFan]

Right, it's a machine of organic material, even with the best upkeep it's gotta crap out at some point.

But why? I know nothing of biology, but it is one of those things I do occasionally wonder about. Why do big dogs’ bodies get old at 10 years, small dogs at 20, humans at 100, and Greenland sharks at 400 (this factoid brought to you via my toddlers’ Goodnight Sharks storybook)? That’s such a huge span of lifespans. It simply must be the case that either the shark’s individual cells last longer OR they can replicate more times without “aging” (whatever that means at the cellular level). But why?

I’ve often pondered that one, but in the haven’t-even-bothered-to-check-Wiki sort of way.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

That's just always been the difference between smart people and stupid people. Smart people buy modest homes and cars, but have huge libraries and take long vacations. Stupid people buy expensive homes and cars and have home theatre sectionals with cupholders for their enormous movie collection.

That’s perfect haha.

I got my house for under $500 and drive a Subaru.

rest of my hood has 2 cars worth at least 120k, multiple kids in private schools and homes that cost over $1m with a cabin up north.

I have no idea where these people get their money from

 

[rufus]

Buy in the Wasatch Range. That's the most beautiful natural landscape I have ever seen. The people are Stepford zombies but hey they'll never go through your trash.

Buy this house and I will visit you and applaud respectfully:

Fig. 1 Probably comes with a brace of teen wives

Meh. Brown, scrubby vegetative growth, surrounded by rocks and sand. No thanks.

 

[Kepler]

Meh. Brown, scrubby vegetative growth, surrounded by rocks and sand. No thanks.

Actually, that's probably because that place is higher elevation because they wanted to build their Stargate McMansion up the mountain. Wasatch is very green. This is Cottonwood Canyon:

There are gorgeous areas within a half hour's drive east of SLC.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

That’s perfect haha.

I got my house for under $500 and drive a Subaru.

rest of my hood has 2 cars worth at least 120k, multiple kids in private schools and homes that cost over $1m with a cabin up north.

I have no idea where these people get their money from

Cabin up north could easily be family inheritance. That's gonna be me in a few years.

The rest, I have no idea. Banksters, doctors, and senior-level engineers probably.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Cabin up north could easily be family inheritance. That's gonna be me in a few years.

The rest, I have no idea. Banksters, doctors, and senior-level engineers probably.

TrUe on the cabin inheritance.

I don’t have one in my family so any guy I date will have to have one.

 

[MissThundercat]

In a way, I think I lucked out when the 2012 Chrysler Town and Country I bought on a loan was totaled in an accident and I bought a 2007 Honda Civic with the money I had.

Also, with my student loans: "A penny saved is a penny earned. And a penny earned won't make a dent in your student debt! You are so screwed!"- Nadia G

 

[French Rage]

Wait, so actually doing things the right way pays off: https://twitter.com/margotroosevelt/...10307022217220

 

[Handyman]

That's just always been the difference between smart people and stupid people. Smart people buy modest homes and cars, but have huge libraries and take long vacations. Stupid people buy expensive homes and cars and have home theatre sectionals with cupholders for their enormous movie collection.

That is what we did. Got a perfect sized house way under value and are able to travel and learn. Even with a remodel our house is way underpriced. If and when the market crashes our house value is safe unlike the rest of our area.

Having bankers/economics professors as in laws helps immensely.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Wait, so actually doing things the right way pays off: https://twitter.com/margotroosevelt/...10307022217220

I did notice this part though:

Booming tech sector, white-collar professionals & construction will offset slower recovery of tourist-dependent hotels, restaurants & entertainment venues.

Rich techies and real estate developers are gonna get richer, poor service workers are gonna lag and face stagflation.

 

[BassAle]

Meh. Brown, scrubby vegetative growth, surrounded by rocks and sand. No thanks.

someone needs to read some Edward Abbey, visit Delicate Arch, find some ancient petroglyphs, and maybe a dinosaur print or two.

The Utah wilderness is great, too bad the state has so many conservatives.

last time I went to Arches National Park i read “Desert Solitaire” first and wished I could have been there back when Abbey was to see Moab when it was a sleepy uranium mining town and see Arches before it was overrun with tourons.

 

[dxmnkd316]

I'm 41 and I'm starting to look into purchasing property in southern Utah for when I retire. My plan is to try to find some town that will be "the next Moab". Western real-estate seems crazy to me, so I feel like I need to get in now, even if its a down on its luck mining town.

Right now I live in a coastal Maine island town where lots of people retire to, so I'm expecting my property value to continue to increase faster than the average. I would like to hold onto a place here though so I can split my time (or give to my kid some day, in case he ever wants to live here), so hopefully I can downsize at that point and at least pocket some cash.

Real estate is totally out of control, and I realize that by looking at a retirement property now I'm contributing to the insanity, but I don't want to get fucked over either.

Nah. This is one case where it's perfectly reasonable to look out for #1. There's no reason you can't rent it out.

You've got to protect your family's interests first.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Buy in the Wasatch Range. That's the most beautiful natural landscape I have ever seen. The people are Stepford zombies but hey they'll never go through your trash.

Buy this house and I will visit you and applaud respectfully:

Fig. 1 Probably comes with a brace of teen wives

Good to know architects have been exposed to Goatse as well.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Cabin up north could easily be family inheritance. That's gonna be me in a few years.

The rest, I have no idea. Banksters, doctors, and senior-level engineers probably.

Our goal is to retire up north at a cabin. We're seven years out from zero debt. I figure we'll start looking then.

 

[French Rage]

I did notice this part though:

Rich techies and real estate developers are gonna get richer, poor service workers are gonna lag and face stagflation.

I agree, no one is viewing that part is a good thing by any stretch. And those affected sectors are all the more dependent on people feeling safe before they go back to them, meaning they are all the more dependent on the state taking an active role in getting people vaccinated, which it has been trying to do. Once the groundwork is laid there, it should hopefully just be a matter of time. But in the meantime, having other sectors that can help keep the budget afloat is not a bad thing given the number of measures that have been necessary this year.

 

[rufus]

someone needs to read some Edward Abbey, visit Delicate Arch, find some ancient petroglyphs, and maybe a dinosaur print or two.

The Utah wilderness is great, too bad the state has so many conservatives.

last time I went to Arches National Park i read “Desert Solitaire” first and wished I could have been there back when Abbey was to see Moab when it was a sleepy uranium mining town and see Arches before it was overrun with tourons.

Not my cup of tea. Been to San Diego too, and its lovely, but just not my cup of tea.

 

[Kepler]

Good. *

A global agreement to end the "race to the bottom" on corporate taxation is within sight, according to the French and German finance ministers.

France's Bruno le Maire told the BBC the G7 club of rich nations were "just one millimetre away from a historic agreement" on a global minimum rate.

He urged low tax states like Ireland to back a deal which would target tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft.

The German finance minister said a 15% rate would help pay back Covid debt

Tax on big tech and multi-nationals has been a source of friction between the US and fellow G7 countries such as the UK.

German finance minister Olaf Scholz said it was important to stop the world's biggest companies from dodging tax.

He said it was "absolutely necessary" to reach a deal in order to "get out of this race to the bottom we see with taxes today…especially after the Covid crisis and all the money we spent to defend the health of the people, and to defend the economy."

Mr Le Maire also urged Ireland, which has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the European Union, at 12.5%, to get "on board".

He added: "European countries, that in the past, opposed this new international tax system, must understand that they have to give the agreement to this major breakthrough".

Both ministers said agreement on a minimum rate remained a sticking point.

Mr Le Maire said he saw the 15% rate as a "starting point".

He said: "If it can be higher, it is better to have a higher rate than 15%."

However, Mr Scholz suggested that 15% would be an effective starting point that would mark a "turning point" after years of going in the other direction.

* I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Yep. Give them nowhere to hide.

 

[Kepler]

Yep. Give them nowhere to hide.

We need a universal graduated income and wealth tax, standardized across every country, treating all income the same. I suggest the tax structure the US had in the 1950s when we built the middle class: a flat 5% above the 90th percentile of wealth; infinitesimal up to the 50th percentile of income, 30% to the 90th, 60% up to the 99th, 90% for the top 1%.